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Yes, please! I've been buying (and recommending!) Synology NAS for many years. However, I'm increasingly frustrated using it as media server. High quality streams from Plex are not handled properly and I'm very willing to spend more for faster machines.

I am so severely disappointed in Synology. I have been a user since 2012 with my ds1512+. I have been waiting for an upgrade for so long now. After seeing the specs for the DS916+ I was hopeful for the DS1517 to be just as strong if not better. Instead they put the same processor as the DS1515+, with known issues in the Celeron family. And No transcoding capabilities. I have been increasingly using my Synology for Plex transcoding now and it simply doesn't work. I am so disappointed, but now have to start looking at QNAP for a stronger NAS.

The low-end boxes are already straining under the weight of a bloated DSM. I'll bet >90% of the problems people experience with them are due to loading them down with too many applications they are simply not robust enough to properly support fom a hardware standpoint.

PaulS wrote:The low-end boxes are already straining under the weight of a bloated DSM. I'll bet >90% of the problems people experience with them are due to loading them down with too many applications they are simply not robust enough to properly support fom a hardware standpoint.

This ^^^^

+1

The very reasons I'm looking at the TVS series from QNAP right now.. just waiting to find the cash.

As someone else stated in another thread here at the forum : " The old Network Attached Storage acronym is dead. NAS has moved away from being just a storage device. These days the hardware needs to support the applications it's pushing.. I find it odd that Synology is missing this; since they were the ones who started pushing Apps over plain storage over 10 years ago."
I´ve also stated the same meaning on Synology´s Facebook-pages.

I really don´t understand why Synology don´t want to support their more and more demanding DSM-OS-package with sufficient CPU-power in all segments of their DS-series, and especially the top-line of their DS+-series.......

I have been waiting for 1817+ "for a while", and is utterly disappointed over it´s spec, especially the CPU, but also it´s missing ability to _both_ carry M.2-SDD´s _and_ 10GbE-card at the same time.

The CPU-issue is the worst disappointment though, and it´s really hard to understand why they are releasing these 2 new boxes with the same CPU and the same frequency as the previous model. Especially is this true if you see the development of DSM over the last 2-3 years and their own statement as a provider of more advanced software vendor and the importance of this.
Why not back up this increasingly more advanced software package with an increasingly more advanced CPU as well??? Especially in a product that has not been
updated for 2+ years......

I own a DS1512+ and was jumping at the chance to upgrade to 1817+ , but sadly 5 years later it's still not a decent enough upgrade for me.

I love my Synology and would like to stay loyal, but it's too bad they won't compete.
Don't really want to buy a QNAP.
I'll just be waiting until I get tired of waiting which will probably be next year.

I'll add my voice to the chorus of others who are asking - begging - Synology for a product with more CPU firepower. I currently use my DS1512+ for storing all my MKV files, but playback is handled by a Core i7 Gigabyte BRIX. It works fairly well, but I'd greatly prefer to one one Synology unit, run Plex on it directly, and run Windows 10 in a VM for other tasks that the BRIX does.

A modern NAS really should be a *server*, not a glorified hard drive. Synology has such an amazing software platform that can do SO much! I am utterly baffled as to why they are seemingly so reluctant to put more powerful Intel CPUs in there - or, hell, an AMD Ryzen! Yes, it would drive up costs and heat, but I for one am willing to pay more to get more. I want to replace my 1512+ but I am not seeing what I want from Synology - so I'm going to look at QNAP now, which I really don't want to do.

I'll add my voice to the chorus of others who are asking - begging - Synology for a product with more CPU firepower. I currently use my DS1512+ for storing all my MKV files, but playback is handled by a Core i7 Gigabyte BRIX. It works fairly well, but I'd greatly prefer to one one Synology unit, run Plex on it directly, and run Windows 10 in a VM for other tasks that the BRIX does.

A modern NAS really should be a *server*, not a glorified hard drive. Synology has such an amazing software platform that can do SO much! I am utterly baffled as to why they are seemingly so reluctant to put more powerful Intel CPUs in there - or, hell, an AMD Ryzen! Yes, it would drive up costs and heat, but I for one am willing to pay more to get more. I want to replace my 1512+ but I am not seeing what I want from Synology - so I'm going to look at QNAP now, which I really don't want to do.

rzyen not have hardware transcode so not good option for video... why not buy DS918+?

One would hope that bigger CPU / RAM options are on the way, what with the recent development efforts on Virtual Machine Manager.

My first NAS was an old ReadyNAS Pro (Business Edition) with a socketed LGA 775 Pentium, over its long (10 year) lifetime that unit received first a Core 2 Duo then a Xeon CPU uplift, it handled Plex like a champ... but since switching to Synology I now have to run a separate Plex box to manage the transcoding.

I can only dream of a socketed CPU inside a Synology NAS with a couple of CPU options - that would please both the modding types and the media server users, and wouldn’t add a lot to the manufacturing cost. Support costs may well be another issue....

A reasonable-spec i3 or i5 CPU nowadays would be a nice option for a more powerful NAS.

rzyen not have hardware transcode so not good option for video... why not buy DS918+?

The last time I looked, the Plex package doesn't support Intel QuickSync anyway, so it's a moot point - a Ryzen CPU would give much more overall CPU power. The DS918+ is only four bays - I'm looking for six or eight. And it's still just a Celeron CPU.

My first NAS was an old ReadyNAS Pro (Business Edition) with a socketed LGA 775 Pentium, over its long (10 year) lifetime that unit received first a Core 2 Duo then a Xeon CPU uplift, it handled Plex like a champ... but since switching to Synology I now have to run a separate Plex box to manage the transcoding.

Wow, a NAS with a socketed CPU? That would be awesome! That way the user decides how much to spend on what they want. I don't know if Synology is listening to us or regularly monitors these forums for what people are discussing. If everyone who wants more powerful CPU options used their sales contact form and let Synology know directly they are missing a product we want, it would help.

In the meantime, I'm looking seriously at QNAP options - because they offer more diversity in CPU choices.

rzyen not have hardware transcode so not good option for video... why not buy DS918+?

The last time I looked, the Plex package doesn't support Intel QuickSync anyway, so it's a moot point - a Ryzen CPU would give much more overall CPU power. The DS918+ is only four bays - I'm looking for six or eight. And it's still just a Celeron CPU.

Plex add hardware transcode last year. It do multi 4K transcode if you check other thread

You're probably going to be disappointed with VM performance on the DS918+, I believe the 1515+ will perform better in that regard. If you need hardware transcoding in Plex the 918+ will provide that, but its my understanding the Intel QuickSync Transcoding provides an inferior picture quality compared to software transcode from a powerful CPU.